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It can be really difficult to make changes in our lives. There are so many things that fill our days and demand our attention: from family to friends to work to the many varied mundane activities required to sustain a life (buying groceries . . . paying bills . . . ). In the midst of such swirl, the idea of making a change for our own personal development can seem indulgent if not impossible. Often clients come to me in a state of deep dissatisfaction with their lives, yet when we turn our attention to what changes the client can make in order to move in the direction of happiness, out comes the laundry list of reasons why change is impossible.

Here’s the inconvenient reality: nothing changes if nothing changes. But reality always comes with a bright side, and the good news is that small changes can have an enormous impact. Ever hear of the Butterfly Effect? This is the mathematical theory that small differences in an initial event can have significantly magnified effects on a later outcome (e.g., a butterfly flapping its wings can impact weather conditions just enough to impact the trajectory of a hurricane that emerges weeks later).

Or try this on. Imagine you are standing on top of the Earth, walking in very a specific direction. If you were to simply alter your line of direction by a fraction of an inch, eventually — if you keep walking — you will end up in an entirely different place.

In other words, one small change now can result in big results over time. Whether it’s taking a few moments each day to sit quietly, or keeping a gratitude journal, or learning to notice whenever you are being unkind toward yourself, or riding your bike to work one day a week — the small thing you do today turns out to be not so small after all.

♥ ♥ ♥

Rafia Rebeck, MA, NCC, LPCC, is a Nationally Certified Counselor trained in the Hakomi Method of Psychotherapy. She offers a warm, sincere, and safe approach for those who seek personal transformation through mindfulness. Please feel welcome to get in touch by contacting rafiarebeck@gmail.com. If this postcard was meaningful for you, I invite you to share it with others who may benefit.

I bristle at the use of the word “healer” to describe my work. In the process of therapy, all change and growth and healing belong to my clients, to the wisdom of their own beings that draws them toward wholeness. I am simply a space holder, a compassionate witness, a friendly resource, a guide who helps clients uncover for themselves the pathway back to themselves.

I can only walk with my clients so far along their path. At a certain point, they have to want their own well-being badly enough to risk trying something new. Ideally, therapy is a place where clients learn to risk in a bite-sized way, in a supportive environment, until they are ready to risk more fully in their lives. While I may serve as a steady hand on back of the bike seat for the one who is learning to balance, ultimately it is the client’s own inner balance that dares to risk for the sake of freedom. It is the client whose hands grip the handlebars, whose feet turn the pedals, as I smile and whisper, “Yes. This.”

♥ ♥ ♥

Rafia Rebeck, MA, NCC, LPCC, is a Nationally Certified Counselor trained in the Hakomi Method of Psychotherapy. She offers a warm, sincere, and safe approach for those who seek personal transformation through mindfulness. Please feel welcome to get in touch by contacting rafiarebeck@gmail.com. If this postcard was meaningful for you, I invite you to share it with others who may benefit.

Once you have developed a habit of noticing ~ of mindful, gentle awareness ~ it is important to set a clear, simple intention. You can think of this as identifying The Big Want. What motivates you? What lights the flame of inspiration in your being? What is the guiding vision you have for your life?

While these questions can help you identify the big picture of where you are heading, there is an art to choosing a goal or setting an intention. And research has demonstrated several ways in which we set ourselves up for failure in our desire for change / movement:

by choosing goals that are too abstract / lofty (e.g., I will conquer all of my fears) or overly ambitious (e.g., I will become fluent in a foreign language in three weeks);

by focusing on too many goals at one time (e.g., I will overhaul my diet, start a daily exercise regimen, work regularly on my novel, write letters to my friends back east . . . all starting now!); and

by failing to maintain adequate and appropriate resource (i.e., engaging the will takes energy and requires good nutrition, adequate rest, and exercise).

In order to increase the possibility of meeting your goals, experts recommend the following.

Attend to one intention at a time. Touch in with the Big Want that motivates you, and then identify bite-size, manageable, attainable goals. You are more likely to succeed by making successive small changes than by trying to leap from where you are to Where You Want to Be.

Make the goals clear and specific. “I will refrain from eating refined sugar for three weeks, excepting one treat on Friday evenings and honey in my daily morning tea,” versus “No sweets.”

Keep your energy up. Research indicates that willpower decreases as they day goes on. Not only that, but we apparently only have one well of willpower to draw from, for all of the activities that require the will. So eating good meals, with adequate protein and healthy fats, will help us maintain our resolve throughout the day. Additionally, setting aside time in the morning (when willpower reserves are plentiful) for tasks that require our will (e.g., exercise) increase the likelihood that we will meet our goals.

Once your intentions and goals are in place, continue to resource yourself in gentle, loving mindfulness. Notice how you feel when you meet ~ or don’t meet ~ your goal for the day. Just notice, allowing the information to inform your resolve. “Loving” is the key word to noticing. If it isn’t loving, it’s judgment ~ and, more than anything, self-judgment is a surefire way to sabotage the will. Part of this process ~ of loving awareness ~ is an acknowledgment of our present-moment wholeness, the realization that we are ok as we are, even before we engage a process of change.

This postcard is the third and final in a series on Engaging the Will.

Rafia Rebeck, MA, NCC, LPCC, is a Nationally Certified Counselor trained in the Hakomi Method of Psychotherapy. She offers a warm, sincere, and safe approach for those who seek personal transformation through mindfulness. Please feel welcome to get in touch by contacting rafiarebeck@gmail.com. If this postcard was meaningful for you, I invite you to share it with others who may benefit.

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way!” This sentiment was perhaps crafted to inspire positivity and stick-to-itiveness in the face of challenging circumstances. If the will is “the faculty by which a person decides on and initiates action,” then the task, according to this platitude, is apparently simple: know your goal, intend it, act on it, and all will be well.

But if the will is the initiating force, where’s the way to the will? Is the will an inborn quality, or is it a trait we can develop? If you don’t naturally feel the force of will, how do you then find the will to develop it?

The first step is simply identifying that you want to engage your will. For some people, this may be as simple as deciding: “I have a goal that I want to accomplish, but I’m having difficulty taking the steps to get there.” For others, it may require some inquiry into what they want from life. It may require nudging from friends, family, counselors, or colleagues who see, or are impacted by, their loved one’s stagnation. For others still, it may require unpleasant circumstances that illuminate the limitations of not engaging the will: “I’m suffering. I don’t know why. I don’t know what I want. But something has to change.”

Ultimately, this seed of the will ~ the will to engage the will ~ reflects an internal readiness for change, and emerges on its own when the individual is ripe for it. There is no forcing it into being. There is only nurturing the conditions ~ warmth, encouragement, awareness, lovingkindness ~ that will awaken the seed to begin to crack open.

The pause between planting and reaping is important. Elapsed time allows for Things To Happen. Fortunately, Life offers variety. Lettuce greens sprout fast and easy, giving the gardener a sense of (near) immediate gratification. The taste buds are satisfied. But the sweetness of watermelon requires patience, waiting, the juicy non-urgency of Time.

In a culture that loves performance, activity, diligent doing, it is easy to overlook the fallow periods, the essential moments of rest and patience and waiting that make growth and activity possible. While the activity of planting and cultivating are necessary, a seed will only sprout when it is good and ready. This is true for our own growth and development as well. Nothing can be rushed. Everything in its own due time.

What eventually grows, in the garden or in the heart, is a function of which seeds we planted in the past. It is a matter of attention. The seeds we sowed yesterday ~ either consciously (by carefully creating furrows in the soil and gently dropping in seeds) or unconsciously (by ignoring last years weeds and letting them spread) ~ bear their fruit in our present.

The same is true in our hearts, minds, and relationships. Therapy is a way of tending one’s inner garden ~ weeding out old thought patterns, sowing new behaviors, fertilizing with lovingkindness, cultivating with mindfulness and self-care, and harvesting the rewards of our efforts and intentions. The seeds that are planted today ~ the stories we tell about ourselves and the world . . . the choices we make (or don’t make) to meditate, exercise, act with kindness ~ show up as fruits tomorrow . . . *pause* . . . or the next day . . . *pause* . . . or the next day.

Whether the seeds we plant grow into flowers or weeds is a matter of attention and intention.